Although Ohio University introduced Jim Christian as its new men’s basketball coach two weeks ago, his official contract will likely not be in the books until the majority of students are done hitting them for the school year.
Ohio Director of Athletics Jim Schaus introduced Christian as the Bobcats’ new men’s basketball coach on April 3; however, it is not expected that Christian, formerly of Texas Christian University, will ink his five-year contract worth $425,000 annually anytime soon.
Despite not signing his multiyear deal, Christian has full acting control of his new team. Ohio will be working with his legal team during the coming months to figure out the finer details of Christian’s deal.
“What makes him different from some employees is that, once he signs his contract, it will be a five-year contract, where not every employee on campus has a multiyear contract,” Schaus said. “It’s not like he’s not officially hired at the institution, it’s just that the multiyear contract is not actuated until he signs.”
The signing delay is not abnormal.
Ohio football coach Frank Solich’s hire was announced in December 2004. However, he did not officially sign on with the university until Aug. 12, 2005 — the fifth day of his team’s fall training camp.
Well before signing his contract, Solich named his assistant coaches, coordinators and a director of football operations.
Former Bobcat basketball coach John Groce, now head coach at the University of Illinois, was introduced at Ohio only four days after Tim O’Shea resigned from the position in June 2008.
Schaus said it took “several months” for the athletics department to deliberate with Groce’s legal team as well.
“I think the goal is that you try to move (the contract negotiations) along as fast as possible,” Schaus said. “You try to get the general language to him and his attorneys, and it takes some time. There’s always some discussion on the fine points. I don’t know if I can put a timetable on it because it has its own life.”
Schaus said Ohio’s athletic budget is about $19.5 million. Based on that figure, Christian’s contract would account for slightly more than 2 percent of the total.
In comparison, Solich’s $330,000 base salary is about 1.7 percent of the budget.
OU President Roderick McDavis noted that Christian will be taking an almost 30-percent pay cut when he signs with Ohio. He had a $600,000 base salary at TCU.
He also affirmed that, although Christian’s salary is $125,000 more than Groce’s previous $300,000 base contract — which included $50,000 in automatic bonuses — the athletics department will make up the difference.
McDavis reiterated that General Fund and General Fee money will not be used to pay the difference between Christian’s and Groce’s base contracts.
“It was the price we thought we needed to get a quality coach,” McDavis said. “We thought we were at the point where we wanted to get a quality coach, and we feel that we want to maintain the success that we’ve experienced in our basketball program, and this is one way to do that.”
jr992810@ohiou.edu
